Matoke ‘plantain’ is Uganda’s staple food that has been adopted by several African countries.
With unripe green bananas as the main ingredient, they tend to taste a little bland unless a bit of spice is thrown in.
There is no need to add fancy ingredients. What you have in your kitchen will work just fine.
Plantains are also packed with fiber, prebiotics, and probiotics, all of which help digestion.
Unripe bananas are key to good matoke but others tend to mix both unripe and ripe.
Ingredients
- 5 green bananas, peeled
- Vegetable oil
- Coconut cream
- 2 large onions chopped
- 8 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 green chilies(optional)
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tbsp. concentrated tomato paste
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp. chopped coriander
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- Salt
Preparation
Step 1
In a sufuria, add vegetable oil and chopped onions. Sauté the onions over medium heat until lightly golden.
Step 2
Add the garlic, and the chilly tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes then add the chopped tomatoes. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
Step 3
Add a glass of water and coconut milk and allow to simmer.
Step 4
Add the peeled matoke and cover then reduce the heat to low. Cook until soft, but not mushy.
Step 5
Now add the cinnamon, salt, black pepper, and chopped coriander and mix gently.
Serve immediately with hot chapati or rice. You can never go wrong by adding avocado on the side.
